1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in a snow removal machine propelled by crawler belts.
2. Description of the Related Art
In removing snow, snow removal machines are generally used for lessening the labor. A snow removal machine has a snow removing implement such as a rotary snow removing device or a snow removing plate at a front part of its body and is propelled by crawler belts during snow removal. This type of snow removal machine is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. HEI-6-60482. The snow removal machine has drive wheels at a front part of its body and driven wheels at a rear part of its body. Crawler belts are trained around the drive wheels and driven wheels for serving as running parts.
In this snow removal machine, since the crawler belts have openings between the drive wheels and the driven wheels, snow may get into the inside of the crawler belts from sideways during snow removing operation. Some of the snow getting into the inside of the crawler belts may be conveyed toward the driven wheels by the crawler belts, adhere to the outer peripheries of the driven wheels and accumulate thereon. This phenomenon is conspicuous when the snow is fresh and powdery.
Snow accumulated on the outer peripheries of the driven wheels increases the apparent outer diameter of the driven wheels, increasing the tension of the crawler belts. Propelling the snow removal machine by the crawler belts under the increased tension shortens the lives of the belts. In order to maintain a normal stretch of the crawler belts, it is necessary to remove snow accumulated on the outer peripheries of the driven wheels manually. This deteriorates efficiency in snow removing operation.
It is further conceived that different amounts of snow may adhere to the right and left drive wheels and driven wheels. For example, if more snow accumulates on the left drive wheel or driven wheel, the outer diameter of the left drive wheel or driven wheel increases in appearance, whereby the snow removal machine is gradually turned to the right, losing straight advance.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a snow removing machine which is designed to effectively remove snow adhered to and accumulated on an outer periphery of a drive wheel or driven wheel.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a snow removal machine comprising a body, a drive wheel and a driven wheel mounted to the body, a crawler belt wound around the drive wheel and driven wheel, and a scraper opposed to the outer periphery of the driven wheel to remove snow accumulated on the outer periphery.
With the scraper, snow adhered to and accumulated on the outer periphery of the driven wheel can be removed to prevent increase in tension of the crawler belt due to the increased diameter in appearance of the driven wheel that might otherwise be caused by snow accumulating on the outer periphery. This prolongs the life of the crawler belt substantially. Removal of snow with the scraper eliminates the need for manual snow removal, thereby improving workability. No difference arises in the amounts of snow adhering to the right and left driven wheels, thereby ensuring linear travel of the snow removal machine.
It is preferred that the scraper comprise blades at upper and lower ends of a surface thereof confronting the outer periphery, and a concave part at the middle part to distance the middle part from the outer periphery so as to prevent snow left on the outer periphery from making contact with the concave part, thereby preventing breakage of the scraper.
In a preferred form, the scraper is bent at a substantially right angle to have a substantially L shape section, and has a mounting plate to be mounted to a lower cover provided on axes of the drive wheel and driven wheel, and a scraping member confronting the outer periphery of the driven wheel. The scraping member has a curved shape with a radius of curvature smaller than a radius of curvature of the outer periphery of the driven wheel, to form the concave part.
It is preferred to integrally form a reinforcing member protruding from the middle part of a bend between the mounting plate and scraping member so as to prevent the scraping member from deforming from the bend under snow scraping load. Further, the integral molding of the reinforcing member can reduce the number of parts.
The scraper is adjustable to be made close to or distanced from the outer periphery of the driven wheel and can be arranged in a preferred position relative to the outer periphery.
Another scraper opposed to the outer periphery of the drive wheel to remove snow accumulating on the outer periphery can scrape snow adhering to and accumulating on the outer periphery of the drive wheel.